We always seem to be looking at what walks we
would like to do and one that has loomed large on the horizon is the South-West
Circuit, starting from Melaleuca and travelling in a clockwise direction out to
South-West Cape then up the coast to Noyhener Beach, then in a roughly easterly
direction back to Melaleuca. As we would also wish to do side trips to Mt
Melaleuca and South-West Cape itself we would need at least 12 days. As we
were not sure we could spare that amount of time we opted for a walk from
Melaleuca down to South-West Cape and return the same way - maybe 9 or 10 days,
including a couple of side trips on the way.

Day 1 - Monday 5/3/12 - Melaleuca to
New Harbour (12kms, 4hrs 30mins)

After a bit of a delay at Cambridge Airstrip (9.30am instead of 9.00am) we left
in a 2-engine Britten-Norman Islander to head down the D'Entrecasteaux Channel
and along the coast to Melaleuca. Uneventful flight - some low cloud and a good
landing.

By the time we had collected a couple of gas cylinders, stored some clothes and
end-of-walk snacks in a hut and filled our water bottles it was 11.15am and time
to head off to New Harbour.

I started walking with my rain jacket packed away but we both soon had them on because of intermittent rain. The track was easy to follow, with much
duck-boarding along the way towards the turn-off that would take us around the
northern end of the New Harbour Range, eventually to the campsite near the
beach.

The turn-off was reach at 1.15pm and we immediately found ourselves on a
somewhat wet track, no boards and still raining. Some sections of the track were
turned into mini-creeks but there were no dramas. We had one brief stop for a
few nuts and a drink before pressing on.

We arrived at the eastern end of New Harbour Beach, thought about setting up
camp amongst the trees, but decided to keep going for the extra few hundred
metres to the campsite at the side of an unnamed creek, halfway along the beach.
We reached it at 3.45pm.

This was a beautiful camping spot, just up a few steps from the creek, with
magical views out to Maatsuyker Island and other islands in front of us.

After organising our gear Matthew set up the tent and made us a cup of tea.

There were a few light showers as we ate our main meal - Thai chicken curry with
some added cashews and peanuts.

We were very disappointed to see garbage lying around. We did our best to gather
it into one disgusting heap, but it shouldn't have been necessary. Is this how
some people treat their homes?

After a night of rain and strong southerly winds it was a relief to be able to
have a cup of tea and porridge with sultanas for breakfast in fairly calm
conditions, with no rain.

As today's walk was classified as an "easy half day walk" by John Chapman in his
book "South West Tasmania" we started out at about 10.00am, heading initially
for Hidden Bay. There was a fair amount of forest walking on this leg and a few
hills to either skirt around or climb over. Several small peaks along the ridge
line that avoided the lower level wet plains was like walking along the back of
a huge dinosaur. By 12.15pm we had reached Hidden Bay and were surprised to see
three tents and assorted gear on ropes and under tarps for a group that had
obviously gone on a day trip. I called out, "Anybody home?" and, having received
no answer, concluded the walkers were not there.

We wondered if they were some of the people who had signed out at Melaleuca on
28/2/12 to head for SW Cape and were on their way back again. [We later
discovered, when we met a group of about six or eight adults, that they had gone
for a day trip to Wilson Bight.]

I made us some biscuits and cheese (Vita Wheats with half a cheese slice and
Vegemite) for lunch, washed down with a Gatorade orange drink.

The track over and around the hills to Ketchem Bay was in very good condition,
quite dry when the recent rain was taken into account. There was a detour away
from the old, direct route and it seemed as though we were being deliberately
led away from our destination.

We reached Ketchem Bay campsite at about 3.30pm - nice and level and reasonably
sheltered from south and south-westerly winds.

It was a bit of a surprise when we found many leeches, mostly on our gaiters but
a few resourceful specimens had found their way onto our legs to drink their
fill. We removed them with a small squirt of RID insect spray. We also each
found a tick that we removed in the same way. However, they seemed to want to
stay around a bit longer and I needed to carefully pull mine out of my leg. We
set up camp, made a cup of tea and wandered along the beach, checking out caves
and the massive storm erosion at the side of the creek.

Dinner tonight was beef mince and vegetarian pasta with a hot chocolate drink
later. Not that impressed with the beef - it needed something to spice it up a
bit maybe. We hope to have a quiet evening - maybe listen to the 2nd 1-day
international match between Australia and Sri Lanka if radio reception allows.

First - cricket update. Australia were totally outplayed and made a not very
impressive 6 for 260. In reply, Sri Lanka batted brilliantly, making 170 before
their first wicket fell. By the end of play Sri Lanka had won by 8 wickets, with
about 35 balls to spare. So we now look forward to the decider on Thursday.

It was a leisurely start to the day as we just needed to get over the Amy Range,
on the way to Wilson Bight.

We had our normal breakfast of a mug of tea, followed by porridge with sultanas
and were packed up and on our way by 9.55am. The track climbed through the
forest, with occasional views out to sea. Much tea tree to push through at head
height and above. We used the boot washing station at a creek after 45 minutes
or so and met a couple of men who were having a brew at the top of the range
after another 45 minutes. They were on their way back to Melaleuca after
starting the SW Circuit on 2/3/12. Pretty good effort we thought. We continued
on down the track, pausing to take a photo of Wilson Bight on the way.

At 12.45pm we reached the first of the campsites - quite OK, with a small creek
nearby. Continuing on around the point - carefully picking our way through the
shoreline rocks (low tide so no problems) - we saw a set of steps towards the
western end of the beach, past the creek we had read about. We clambered up the
steps (large gap at the foot of them due to erosion) and found a lovely camping
area with room for, say, six tents. Very comfortable.

I made us some Vita Wheat biscuits, cheese and Vegemite for lunch. Matthew set
up the tent and he then went for a swim in the surf.

I did some much-needed washing - myself and walking clothes in the creek near
where it met the sea. Feeling much better after that. We went in search of water
and found a small waterfall after scrambling up through driftwood and other
debris that had been pushed up by a violent storm in the past.

At around 3.00pm we were surprised when a youngish (30-something) Japanese woman
arrived at the campsite. Matthew had previously cleared a small fallen tree out of the way
to make access easier, so it made her arrival a bit less of a struggle.

We discovered she was by herself and had walked from New Harbour during the day.
Quite an achievement. She told us she was a parks ranger in Japan, on a 1-year
holiday in Australia to do as many bushwalks as she could in that time. I asked
her name - T. Chihu. Apparently, her plan was to walk to SW Cape, back to
Melaleuca to replenish her food supplies and then to continue on the South Coast
Track to Cockle Creek.

Dinner today was Thai chicken curry with salmon and peanuts - very tasty.

Another very pleasant evening - into the tent by about 8.30pm for a good night's
sleep.

Breakfast, normal porridge with sultanas and a mug of tea. Not an early start
today as this is the day we planned to walk/climb Mt Karamu and walk out to SW Cape. We
packed light day packs with 2 litres of water each, EPIRB, compass, maps and
notes, snacks, rain jackets, basic first aid kit, marking tape and trekking
poles.

We started the walk at about 9.40am and were faced with a steady, steep climb up
to a lookout point before continuing on to the first of the non-Mt Karamu peaks
- 3 in all - and only about 5m difference in height. It was here, on the first
of the peaks, that we saw T. Chihu, who was about to set out on the side track
to SW Cape itself. We saw her head off along the track as we made our way more
slowly to the actual Mt Karamu. We started our walk along the track to SW Cape
at about 12 noon.

Very soon we began to regret our decision to wear shorts and not long pants on
this walk. Apart from the track being very narrow - less than 30cms wide - the
banksia marginata sub-species (stunted, very old shrubs) were totally
unforgiving, continuously scratching our bare knees and thighs. To add to our
discomfort, the wiry bauera shrubs (Bauera rubioides), with their
whippy, intertwining stems and sharp leaves, made progress very difficult indeed.
[A description I found refers to the Bauera rubioides as follows: "It is almost
as notorious as the horizontal scrub. It is a shrub with a sprawling habit, that
grows as long wiry stems that intertwine with itself as well as other species of
scrambling plant, often forming impenetrable tangled masses."] We knew all about
it!

By 1.30pm Matthew asked me how much longer did I think we should keep walking
before turning around, if we had not reached the Cape. I suggested another two
hours. Progress continued to be very slow. On many occasions we needed to push
strongly through what seemed to be an impenetrable wall of foliage, unable to
see where our feet were being placed.

Finally, Matthew had had enough. With a few choice descriptions, it was clear he
did not want to continue to the Cape. The problem was that every step we took we
knew we would have to repeat it in the opposite direction. The turnaround
occurred at about 3.00pm, when we were still roughly 1 to 1.5kms from the final
vertical rock face before the Cape itself. Whilst it was a pity not to have
actually reached our goal, it was a good decision.

It seemed to take a very long time just to get back to "South" Karamu and by the
time we reached the beach at Wilson Bight it was around 6.00pm. As we walked
along the huge pebble rocks I looked back and was surprised and relieved to see
T. Chihu striding along behind us. We waited for her to catch up and discovered
she had made it out to the Cape and still caught up with us. What a legend!!
Even allowing for the fact that she wore long pants, her achievement was
remarkable.

Matthew estimated that, even if we had been able to reach the end of the Cape,
it would have been at least 8.00pm (or maybe even later) before returning to our
campsite. [Prior to seeing T. Chihu on the Wilson Bight beach we had become
worried that we had not seen any sign of her since she left us at "South" Karamu
to begin her walk to the Cape. Fortunately, my imagined worst-case scenarios did
not eventuate.]

SOUTH-WEST CAPE - 1, WATTONS - 0

After having had virtually no food since breakfast, we enjoyed chicken marsala
with rice, followed by our normal hot chocolate drink before listening to the
end of the cricket - Australia won in a tight finish - and getting into the tent
by about 9.30pm.

Day 5 - Friday 9/3/12 - Wilson Bight to Ketchem Bay (4.5kms, 3hrs)

Up at 7.45am for a leisurely breakfast and a mug of tea. Had our photos taken
with T. Chihu, gave her our email and web addresses and she was gone before
9.00am.

We took our time, left at just on 10.00am and negotiated the rocky point on the
beach by carefully timing our steps as waves came and went. Soon we were
climbing steeply through sometimes dense undergrowth. I immediately regretted
not wearing long pants (again!). Matthew did and benefitted from their
protection.

No lunch stops on the way today as we only needed to negotiate the Amy Range and
then arrive at Ketchem Bay. Plenty of drink breaks, more leg scrapes and we
arrive at the campsite just after 1.00pm.

Lunch today - normal Vita Wheat biscuits, cheese and Vegemite, followed by a mug
of tea. We enjoyed watching a small bird, that I later identified as a brown
scrubwren, foraging for its afternoon feed.

During the afternoon we took the opportunity to wash some of our walking
clothes. The forecast weather change came through at about 5.15pm, cooling the
air temperature down by a few degrees and sending the mosquitoes on their way,
fortunately.

Dinner tonight was honey soy chicken with added vegetables - very satisfying and
tasty. We climbed into the tent just before 7.00pm - threatening rain due to
south-westerly change approaching. Listened to various mainland radio stations
before eventually sleeping.

We were up reasonably early today, even though it promises to be a fairly short
walking day.

It had rained on and off all through the night so we were somewhat relieved that
there was no sign of rain as we prepared to leave. [Camelot weather.]

Normal breakfast again, then we packed up and left Ketchem Bay at about 9.40am.
We headed up through the forest before levelling out on a good, rocky track that
eventually wound down through the forest to Hidden Bay.

We decided to have an early lunch (only 11.15am) at the campsite near the creek.
Once again, our normal lunch snack, washed down with a Gatorade drink.

We were back on the track, up through the forest initially, then a good, hard
rock track that skirted around minor peaks and knolls on the way. As we walked
over the "dinosaur's back" we met a group of four adults and maybe four or five
teenagers, heading for Wilson Bight today. The boys and girls did not seem to be
adequately dressed for close scrub encounters but I suppose they coped.

The descent to New Harbour beach took us through wet forest with many fallen
trees to clamber over or under as we went. Not an easy task with upwards of
25kgs on our backs.

It was a relief to reach the beach at about 2.00pm. We set up our camp at the
same, mid-beach campsite as we had when we walked this way at the end of Day 1.
We wandered along the creek to get the water bladder and drink bottles filled
with water. It was a bit muddy at the creek edge.

We made our afternoon mug of tea and munched on some cashews and peanuts as we
relaxed, listening to the surf on the beach in front of us. Experiences like
this make all the walking worthwhile.

Around 3.30pm a group of four men from Victoria arrived, on their way to walking
the SW Circuit. They told us that there were two sea kayakers along at the
eastern campsite. They had apparently paddled their kayaks from Apollo Bay to
King Island, down the West Coast and were on their way back up to re-cross Bass
Strait to Port Welshpool then home. As I was writing these notes Matthew had
walked along the beach to meet them, presumably swapping sea kayaking yarns of
their various adventures.

Matthew returned at 6.00pm after an involuntary dunking to his waist in the
creek near the beach when he misjudged the water depth (tannin-stained and
impossible to easily gauge the depth).

Dinner tonight was a Chefsway creation - Moroccan chicken and vegetables plus
some added freeze-dried peas, corn and capsicum. Generally, we prefer to use
Back Country meals as they are easier to prepare than Chefsway and still taste
pretty good, without the long, drawn-out cooking process that uses up precious
fuel too quickly.

The Victorians visited us during the evening and offered a drink of their cask
wine - very welcome. In return we gave them our "TasAdam" Holbrook notes of the
SW Circuit in case they might find them useful.

A peaceful night, despite intermittent showers - only light and no problems for
the Macpac Minaret tent. We were up and about by 7.30am, had our normal
breakfast and were packed and ready to leave by 9.20am. The track back to the
South Coast Track was a bit muddy but there was no deep bog. This is in contrast
to the South Coast Track, which is churned up by the constant stream of walkers
who have created an unpleasant quagmire. We stopped for a Gatorade drink after
about one hour. Apart from a few stops for a stretch, we just kept following the
boards back to the Melaleuca Airstrip. Seeing it glistening white from so far
away it seemed to make the trip back there even longer than it actually was. We
arrived at about 1.30pm, changed out of our stinking walking clothes into the
spare clothes we had left at the start of the walk and relaxed.

Much to my surprise Matthew produced two small bottles of Coke and several small
packs of biscuits and cheese from the spare clothes bag. What a treat!

There were many people milling around - some kayak trippers, yachting
day-trippers and people waiting to be flown out. There were two planes already
on the ground and a third arrived while we waited to find out if we would be
able to leave today or if we needed to wait for a later flight out (Monday
maybe).

We visited the orange-bellied parrot feeding tent and platform and also saw the
beautiful firetails at the same time.

It transpired that all planes were choc-a-block so we settled in at the older
Charles King Hut for a comfortable night, not in the tent and able to spread
ourselves out. No other occupants at the hut, not even the alleged resident
pygmy possum this time.

We eventually flew back to Cambridge at 1.00pm on Monday, flying via Federation
Peak for a close-up view of the magnificent peak.

Thanks to Matthew for his patience with my slow pace. Great son and a very
considerate
walking companion.

Medical Issues

As with other recent trips (walking and cycling) I have had to deal with having
a suprapubic catheter following radiation therapy for prostate cancer. In order
to avoid possible infection problems, such as might be caused by not being able
to shower regularly while on a walk, I ensure that the entry site of the
catheter is thoroughly cleaned with alcohol swabs each day and covered with a
non-stick dressing. Other than the inconvenience of having the catheter in place
I think I cope fairly well and it has not prevented me from doing whatever I
want to do.